Decorating Modern

If you’re not going anywhere this weekend, it’s a great time to summer-fy your place. Or for those of you lucky enough to have a cottage or a summer share it’s the prime weekend to open it up and give it a zshush. Here are 10 favorite products that will help you get ready for summer.

3. Be picnic-ready. The Fatboy Picnic Lounge has plenty of room for your entire picnic party and comes with four pins to keep it grounded and a brush to keep it sand-free.

4. Embrace the BBQ, and take it wherever you go. The RS Barcelona Mon Oncle BBQ is portable, has retro style and you tote it down to the beach in a cool little briefcase. This makes it a cool little accessory when it’s stashed in the house, not in use. you won’t want to hide it in a garage like those other grills.

5. Add some summery art. I love to switch up my color scheme in the summer. One key work of art can inspire all of your choices. The pastels and bright greens in this oil painting by Ginger Marshall will make the room feel instantly airier.

6. Accessorize your mojito. Hot days call for cool cocktails. Jazz them up with these playful patterns from See Design.

7. Have the lemonade or sweet tea chillin’. Also, you must have a pitcher of iced tea at the ready at all times. Them’s the rules. The ittala Aino Aalto Pitcher is a mid-century classic, and seeing it every time you open up the refrigerator will make you happy.

10. Hang a summery shower curtain. This is the easiest and least expensive way to give your bathroom what will feel like a total makeover. Thomas Paul has everything from the squid to the whale on his sea-inspired shower curtains, but I find this pair of seahorses too cute to resist.

What’s your favorite summer design move? Please share it with us in the comments section.

Industrial modern is a design phrase that gets thrown around a lot but what exactly does it mean? To us, there is always an element that throws back to the era between the start of the industrial age and the dawn of international style. Industrial modern style can spring from living in a loft that used to be a warehouse back in the 1930s, adding reclaimed wood with a long interesting history, going a bit steampunk or using pipes as part of shelving structure, adding factory-style windows, providing classic metal stools inspired by 1930s French cafes and more.

A good industrial modern room is never cold — It’s not a sleek lacquer and metal minimalist space. There’s rough-hewn wood, glints of copper, exposed brick and/or patinaed concrete that add warmth. The story is in the shapes and textures. Here are ten of our favorite industrial modern pieces at Design Public right now.

Gus Modern Vintage Swingarm Lamp. Stainless steel arm and a vintage-y filament bulb. Plus, we prefer the wire hanging down the wall in an industrial modern space. Hiding it in the wall = too fussy.

Brave Space Design Acute High Stool. This looks like it could have been crafted in one of the warehouse spaces described above, by some modern-day carpenter/welder/all-around Renaissance person who studies the older ways of crafting objects.

Menu Wine Decanter. It has a beaker-like shape and a stainless steel top.Menu Wire Bin. It has has a simple wire look. Great for stashing all of your rolled up architectural drawings, toys, towels, flip flops, or, you know, wastepaper.

This was the first week we had a chill in the air here in Atlanta and I could not be happier that the humidity is gone and sweater weather is on its way! Have you called the woodman yet? Whether you have that cord of wood sitting in an unsightly stack in the middle of the yard, you’re ready to do some splitting over the weekend or you want to plan for how to do it with panache, we have some ideas for you about how to keep it looking nice and ready to burn.

This woodpile is huge! While we don’t recommend stacking wood up against a wood deck or siding, on brick against a stone house you’re safe from termites. Give it a little zshush with some windowboxes on top. This time of year, they look great with pumpkins, for the later months, plant them with evergreens or simply switch out boughs of pine, fir or spruce.

via http://chaseneal.vsco.co/

I actually like the rustic Paul Bunyon look of a haphazard stack of logs that’s waiting to be split. However, if you’ve ever seen the movie “The Strangers,” you’ll never want to leave an ax outside.

This charming cart is so practical; you can wheel it to wherever you have the logs stashed outside rather than struggling with big bundles.

photo: jfhillipsdesign.com

Do you have a non-working fireplace? Don’t be bummed, you can dress it up with logs. Just make sure they are completely dry before creating a stack like this.

While stacking logs against drywall or masonry may bring in some creepy crawlers, you can take some precautions. Use a metal rack and again, make sure that your wood is dry. Do not place it directly against the wall, scoot it out a few inches. This adds so much texture and rustic visual interest to the room that it seems worth the risk. Plus, it keeps you from having to open up the door and let all the cold in.

In fact, I’m loving this modern take, which combines industrial metal cylinders with the natural wood.

This smart niche is lined in metal to prevent damage to walls, and its scale and shape add a nice contrast to the ornate fireplace surround.

This wall-mounted unit transforms the logs into sculpture and keeps them from touching the drywall.

Now that the school year is getting into full swing, it’s time to make sure your workspace suits you. In fact, even if you aren’t in school, check out your workspace and make sure it’s inspiring you to do your best and enjoy it as much as possible. We’ll start with some smashing contemporary desks. Here are six favorites – see if you (or your little homework-doer) are cut out for any of them. Enjoy!

Blue Dot Desk 51.You’re a minimalist, and you like fast cars, or at least, Matchbox cars. All you need is your laptop and everything else is in the cloud or in your head. This desk is powdercoated and glossy, sleek and clever. There’s also an extending keyboard tray/shelf that glides on metal/ball bearing side runners; you can’t even tell it’s there.

The OFFI Half Pipe Desk. You love to board, whether on pavement or snow, but you also like to put your feet up. You like to fidget and love having a few items close at hand. You’d rather make a diorama than write a report, you collect matchboxes (not matchbooks) and you love to curl up in a cozy nook. This desk has some cool curves, niches for stowing things and a footrest.

Stoller Works Yellow Frame Standing Desk. You are so tired of sitting at school all day that you need to stand. You dream of a career where you’re at a drafting table, designing a zero-energy skyscraper, a bridge, a new public park or a motorcycle like the one in Tron. While you embrace technology, you also have an appreciation for handmade things, and enjoyed using the jigsaw in shop class. This desk has a beautiful trestle sculpture and will keep you from succombing to a sedentary lifestyle.

The MASH Studios LAX Wall-Mounted Desk. You hate wasted space, probably because your room is tiny. You like hiding things between your mattress and your box spring, and have a particular affection for stash boxes that look like books. You love the concept of floating and you played with building blocks a lot as a kid. This desk mounts to the wall, saves floor space and combines walnut wood with powdercoated aluminum.

The Brave Space Design Delta Desk (shown: Maple). You’ve always been fascinated by airplanes, and you’re quite good at fashioning your own from paper and drilling your friends in the head with them. You’re a piler, not a filer and you prefer a good old fashioned corkboard to one on Pinterest. This desk has a very cool silhouette, and its sculptural wings serve as shelves.

The Blu Dot Modulicious Power Deskette. Legos were always your toy of choice. You tend to make a mess but like to be able to hide it with one sweep of your arm. You think Mike Brady was a dang good architect and wish you could have seen more of his work, and you think your Mom’s vintage Fisher Price A-Frame House was way under-rated. This desk has mid-century modern flair, yet it’s fresh, and you can totally customize it with fun colors on the drawers.

Ah, many people I know are heading off to college this week. By now, you may have gotten a glimpse of the abysmal dorm room furniture and lack of personality in the room. While you or your college kiddo may already have the basics – bedding, shower shoes, bathroom caddy, shoe rack, there may be quite a few items you didn’t realize you could squeeze in there or they may discover they want after settling in a little bit. Here are a few ways to help make the room your own.

1. Customize your bed. Often times, your bed serves as your sofa, your chair, your desk. Fill it up with extra throw pillows to prop up and/or create more of a daybed when you’re not sleeping in it. Add an OFFI overlap tray for doing a little work on your lap. Also, add a rug, even a tiny 2×3 one, so you can step onto something soft in the morning and give them a little wipe off before hopping into bed.

2. Create a better lighting scheme. Overhead light is such a bummer. Gain some softer light and versatility with a desk lamp. We love the modern lines and metallic finish on the Flos Archimoon K Lamp.

3. Gain some comfy seating beyond the bed. We love all of the fun colors offered up by the Fatboy Original. It’s the ultimate bean bag; you can actually sit upright in it if you choose.

4. Add a small side table. By now, you may realize that a desk somewhere behind that weird headboard is not the best place for your water glass, glasses, book or other stuff next to your bed we won’t mention here. Grab a portable table like this snazzy little number that also serves as a tray. This is a piece you’ll take to every home you live in for the rest of your life; but if you’re short on dough, those milk crates will do. Shop all side tables/nightstands

5. Wake up! You can add great design detail via a happy colored clock that is also a dock for your iPhone.

6. Keep charged. In addition to your clock dock, you’ll want to keep your tech accessories in order. I like to keep juiced up with the Blu Dot Juice Box Digital Dock.

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"I just discovered your site yesterday (and I'm already ordering from it!) I even forwarded it on to a friend. I was giving up on finding bedding that I liked, so it's nice to know there are others out there who appreciate a mod(ern) sensibility. And your rugs are too die for!"